Guidance for the Path Ahead

There is no guarantee of safe passage.
Security is a flimsy veneer,
a fiction we agree to less each day,
that papers over the brambles and wolves. 

In times like these when thorns outnumber fruit
and as night falls the pack starts to close in, 
do not forsake your wits at survival –
your expertise at this is unsurpassed. 

The path ahead will vanish in the brush.
You will be stalked by hunters with bloodlust. 
Places to hide are rare, allies are scarce. 
By dawn, your companions will betray you. 

But despair is a lie, do not heed it. 
We all meet our end eventually. 
Consider your least hazardous options.
Pursue them with vigor. Relish your choice,

though it is limited, though the outcome
is not ordained, to continue forward
in spite of impediment, regardless
of how danger lurks beside every step.